Abeyance

We walked until nightfall. And by then, we were all exhausted. We had cleared a few streets out, but again, no survivors.
There were no hotels near, which was okay for Lights and I, but not so much for Valerie.
"I can't sleep outside!" The overtired child whined.
"It's only for tonight, Val. I promise!" Lights tried to persuade her. But Valerie started crying.
"I wanna go home!"
Lights held the baby and comforted her, while I started shooting more extraterrestrials. They seemed to be all over, now! Were they repopulating? And if so, that quickly? It was crazy.
Sleeping outside probably wasn't the safest idea. But we were all too drained to continue walking to find a hotel; we were in a more industrial part of the city, there weren't many.
But then I got an idea...
I took Valerie from Lights and held her tight. Lights automatically took out her gun to stand guard.
"We're going to go camping, Val. But inside."
"You can't camp inside!" Valerie frowned.
"Yes, we can. Watch, you'll see."
There were stores around, and in front of us happened to be a CVS. Perfect.
"I'll go scope." said Lights, and she headed into the store and looked around for anything suspicious. I stayed outside with Valerie.
When my beautiful brunette gave me the okay, I walked in with the baby. "How are we going to camp inside?" She asked me, her innocent voice making me smile.
"Well, Val, we're going to find a tent, put it up, and sleep in it."
Valerie grinned. "Yippe!"
I walked down the isles until I found one that had tents.
"There we go. Lights, can you get me batteries, Darling?"
She nodded and left for batteries. We needed them for the lantern.
I opened the box and took the tent out while Lights put the batteries into the lantern and turned it on. Once I had light, I set up the tent. Lights kept Valerie busy for the 20 minutes it took me to set it up.
"Wanna get blankets?" I asked Valerie. She nodded and followed me as we walked down isles and took blankets and sheets. There weren't many, sadly. And they were small.
"The tent is so small!" Valerie complained. It was a one, maybe two person tent. It was a drug store, for God's sake, they didn't have a huge variety of tents.
"I know, Val. But we'll fit, it'll be fine."
Lights got into the tent, then Valerie. That was already a tight squeeze. So I packed all the blankets and pillows in with them.
"You guys seem roomy enough, I'll sleep out here."
"No," Lights started and sat up. "You get in. I'll sleep out there."
"No. It's warmer in there. More comfortable. Stay with the baby." I pressed a kiss to Valerie's head, then one to Lights' lips.
"Sleep tight, ladies."
I zipped the tent, then laid on the ground outside of it.
I was cold. I was uncomfortable. But I was content. Content because Lights and Valerie were okay.
The light from the lantern went off once Valerie and Lights were tucked in. I heard Lights tell Valerie a story. It put Valerie, and even me to sleep. I dozed off to the sound of Lights' voice, quietly telling a story of a Prince and Princess who lived happily ever after. Lights is my princess. And I am her prince. And together, we'll live happily ever after.